Washington Irving: Staff says school was close-knit

Wednesday

A trio of Washington Irving teachers helped reopen the school 16 years ago and now must lock it up one last time.

They all started together as a team of teachers charged with reopening the Washington Irving school.

Now, 16 years later, they must watch as the students file onto their buses for the last time. Doors will be locked — most likely for good.

As Cheryl Cody, Jeanne-Ann Beaudrault and Pam Whitney part ways at the end of the school year, the one thing they’ll all have in common is Washington Irving.

The three are being reassigned to other schools within the Gates-Chili school district. But they will certainly miss Irving.

“We’re all very heartbroken,” Whitney said. “From the time it reopened, it was a unique collection of people that created an atmosphere that’s just rare.”

Whitney, a speech therapist, has been with the district for 31 years and will be at Neil Armstrong Elementary next year.

In college, Whitney was a voice major and wasn’t sure what she’d do with it. Then she worked at a camp one summer and her fate turned.

“There were a couple of kids who came and asked me to teach them to sing,” she said. “They couldn't carry a tune. It really bothered them that they couldn’t sing.”

She helped cultivate their voices and taught them to be better singers.

“That was really very rewarding,” she said.

Then it was off to Plattsburgh and Geneseo colleges. Whitney came out able to teach speech therapy to children.

Like Whitney, Beaudrault — a kindergarten teacher — will also miss Washington Irving, especially the early days.

“There was an incredible energy and excitement amongst staff and students,” she said. “I began teaching with the most creative and spontaneous group of teachers I had ever met.”

The group put on a myriad of plays, talent shows, science fairs and multicultural celebrations. They even started their on school-wide postal service.

Beaudrault has been teaching in the district for 23 years. Her passion for teaching came early — in her third-grade classroom.

“When I was in third (grade), I watched my teacher in awe write on the chalkboard, grade papers, and log grades into her grade book,” she said. “I knew right then and there I wanted to be a teacher.”

Beaudrault will teach kindergarten at the Paul Road school.

It’s Beaudrault who the school’s principal — Le Roy Greer — is most familiar with, but they will part ways with at the end of the school year. He’ll be moving to Neil Armstrong with Whitney and Cody.

He is impressed with Beaudrault’s energy and dedication. Earlier this year, she had to take some students on a visit to Paul Road.

“She had some heels on and they ended up going on a nature hike,” Greer said. “Where most people would have drawn the line, she went through the muck up to the trail along with everyone else. She never gives up.”

He is also impressed with her dedication to the students. Her classroom is full of decorations and supplies she paid for on her own.

“She (probably) invests more money in the district than the district gives her in supplies,” said Greer, who is also impressed with Whitney’s abilities in her classroom.
Sometimes, Whitney is assigned to help children who have great speech therapy needs.

“She tends to want that kind of challenge,” Greer said. “We have many kids that respond to her abilities.”

As for Cody, Greer appreciates her diligence and professionalism.

A third-grade teacher, Cody teaches in a consult-teacher classroom, which means she has a mix of students with and without disabilities. She couldn’t be reached for comment for this article.

“She’s adapted her teaching style to accommodate that role,” Greer said. “She’s an extremely hard worker. She’ll do whatever it takes to make sure her kids are successful.”

The close-knit community is one thing the teachers will miss about Washington Irving.
“I will miss everything about it,” Beaudrault said. “If I had to choose one thing, it would be the closeness of the staff and students that this small, intimate, nostalgic building has provided.”